State lawmakers are returning to their legislative sessions in the US, which means they will likely return to the question of iGaming and ongoing acceptance of the concept.
At the moment, iGaming is only legal in six states in the US. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, Delaware and West Virginia have all embraced the concept, but there is ongoing hope that more will follow, as the dissolving of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 sees more and more states take up sports betting.
Howard Glaser, head of government affairs for Light & Wonder, doesn’t agree however, saying: “[A fast acceptance of iGaming] hasn’t happened despite the fact that iGaming is the single-most successful launch of a casino product in the history of the United States, if not on the globe. We have extremely successful iGaming in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, and these each went from zero to billion-dollar markets in a very short time.”
On the other hand, Michael Pollock, managing director of the Spectrum Gaming Group, said: “We thought the land-based would start with rejection, move to acceptance and then embrace it,” Pollock said. “That has proven to be accurate. That’s where we are at right now.”
“Think about the size of the land-based market as a whole will be around $50 billion, and iGaming is at 10% of the market already in those few states,” Glaser said. “iGaming from six states did $1 billion in tax revenue while 30 states produced $500 million in sports betting tax revenue. And that market is just getting going.”
